I had been counting down to the Far Harbor DLC release. The more I read about it, the more excited I became. The concept was intriguing and the story sounded really cool. So of course I started playing as soon as it was downloaded. Far Harbor starts with you listening to the radio on a new channel for the Valentine detective agency on your pip-boy. You hear Valentine's assistant Ellie telling you to come to Diamond City for a chat because you have a new case. Pro-tip: Bring Nick Valentine with you for Far Harbor because there is a lot to the story that involves him.
Once you've chatted with Ellie, you learn that your new case involves a missing person. This is where Far Harbor truly begins. You and Nick team up doing a little investigating and find out that Far Harbor is an island and decide to follow the lead and travel there. Naturally in the world of Fallout 4 nothing is ever that simple and you find that there is actually more to the story than you thought and other mysterious reasons for you being there.
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| A beautiful view at the start of Far Harbor. |
As the story progresses, you discover that there are three factions trying to survive and competing for control of the island; the citizens of Far Harbor, the Children of Atom, and the Synth refugees of Acadia. There's a lot of complex and interesting situations that bring up big questions about who is really right and who is wrong while revealing flawlessly that sometimes there isn't a definitive answer because it's a matter of perspective. Far Harbor is huge with the main quests and there are plenty of side quests for each faction as well. Bethesda went all out with making each faction area look unique and it's beautifully done.
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| Entering Far Harbor. |
The big thing about the island of Far Harbor is that literally everything on this island can kill you. You see, there's fog and it's not just your run of the mill cheerful fog. This is fog that is dangerous and creepy with all kinds of new nastier creatures wandering around in it ready to tear your face off. There's a more heightened sense of danger here and it definitely keeps you on your toes and a little paranoid too as you're convinced that every little sound is something horrible coming to get you. Man, it was so much fun!
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| Battling a Fog Crawler, one of the many scary beasts hiding in the fog. |
There are all kinds of new toys to get for your character in Far Harbor as well; ranging from weapons to new power armor. You also get a new companion (keep Valentine with you though, trust me) to add to your team. Some of the items are rewards for doing quests and some are quest related like the Marine combat armor (which is the best armor in the game by the way) while others are loot from the various enemies you fight. Loot everything here because there is a ton of stuff for salvage, upgrading weapons, power armor, and more. While not as big as the Commonwealth, Far Harbor is far from small. There's a lot to see and do just with the side quests alone. Add the main quests and you have at least four hours or more of game play.
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| Vim! Power Armor |
There was one thing in Far Harbor that bugged me a bit and that was the virtual environment puzzle that felt like a mix of Minecraft and Portal. For the most part they were simple and fairly repetitive, but then the last puzzle spiked suddenly in difficulty and was a long hour of frustration in trying to figure out what to do and having to constantly herd the little bugs retrieving data. I can honestly say that was the only part of the game I really did not like and I was relieved when it was over.
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| These puzzles were evil. |
Frustrating puzzles aside, I found that I loved every minute of Far Harbor. The atmosphere of it is great. The story is well thought out and explores some heavy territory with subjects like what it means to be Human or what it's like to be in a position of trying to make an impossible decision that affects everyone. The choices offered to you are interesting and each choice has a different outcome (there are 3 possible endings) making for a fantastic story all around. I enjoyed playing this so much that I felt the Far Harbor DLC is totally worth it. Check it out if you haven't already. You won't be sorry. Now, I'm going to try out this badass Marine combat armor!
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| Marine combat armor, only the best will do! |
*Fallout 4: Far Harbor is playable on these platforms: PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4
100% agree
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